Method for shelling shrimps

ABSTRACT

Cooked shrimps which are accordingly curved are shelled by accurately orienting them and transferring them to a shelling station where the body portion of the shell is gripped and the tail is straightened out and the shrimp is beheaded. The body and tail portions of the shell are then separated and the shrimp is pushed part way out of the gripped body portion of the shell. The tail portion of the shell is then stripped off and the shrimp is then pushed all the way out of the body portion of the shell.

United States Patent RH 1 i 1 l l [5ll [Sol Inventor Appl. No FiledPatented Assignee Priority METHOD FOR SHELLING SHRIMPS 4Clailns, l2Drawingl-igs.

0.8. CI 17/48, l7/7l, 17/73 lnt. A22c 29/00 FieldofSeai-ch v l7/48,7l,72,73

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l,367,546 2/l92l Hirth et al2,716,776 9/1955 Streich et al.. 3,l22,777 3/1964 Jonsson 3,3l0,8323/1967 Ambos et al Primary Examiner- Lucie H. LaudenslagerAttorney-Young and Thompson l7/7l l7/72 17/72 l7/72 the body portion ofthe shell.

Patented Aug. 24, 1971 a w A. .W V .2. i 4 ml i s.

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INVENTOR w-JM ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 24, 1911 3,600,744

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11 Sheet s-Sheet I i W m INVENTOR ATTORNEYJ Patented Aug. 24, 19713,600,744

11 Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTOR BY W ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 24, 19113,600,744

11 Sheets-Sheet 10 TNVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 24,

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INVENTOR flame/4 a: Giff/6&2) 05* MW L ER ATTORNEYS METHOD FOR SHELLINGSHRIMPS The present invention relates to shelling shrimps, and providesmethods and apparatus by which the shrimps are shelled by automaticmechanism.

It is an object of the present invention to provide methods andapparatus for shelling shrimps, in which the shrimps are shelled quicklyand easily with a minimum of waste.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of apparatusfor shelling shrimps, which will be relatively simple and inexpensive tomanufacture, easy to install, operate, maintain and repair, and ruggedand durable in use.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a consideration of the following description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of apparatus according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section on the line IIIIII of FIG. 1, showing two devicesaccording to the present invention disposed side by side;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken in the same directionas FIG. 1 and showing some of the important operative relationships ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line VV of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line VIVI of FIG. 5 andshowing an end view of the shelling station;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a central portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a central portion of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a central portion of one of the twodevices of FIG. 3; and

FIGS. 10-12 are views similar to FIG. 5 but showing the position of theparts and the shrimp at three different stages of the shellingoperation.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, and first to theoverall arrangement of the device as shown in FIG. I, it will be seenthat there are provided a pair of fixed T-beams 1 and 2 which extendbetween end plates (not shown) of a frame and on which a large number ofthe shelling devices illustrated in the drawings may be mounted inside-by-side relationship. This side-by-side relationship is indicatedin FIG. 3, it being understood that FIG. 3 may be extended indefinitelyon either side thereof.

Each shelling unit comprises two main groups of parts, to the left andright of the line III-Ill in FIG. 1. Those to the left of that linetreat the head and body portions of the shrimp, while those to the rightof that line treat the tail portion of the shrimp. It should be borne inmind that in the present apparatus, the shell being stripped from themeat, while the meat is thereafter pushed lengthwise out of the bodyportion of the shell, by separate mechanisms.

Fixed brackets 3 and 4 support the leftand right-hand portions of theapparatus, respectively. A shaft 5 carried by bracket4 pivotally mountsa support 6 by which the righthand portion of the equipment is movabletoward and away from the remainder of the equipment to perform the tailshellstripping operation referred to above. The beam 1 also carriesbrackets 7 and 8, while the beam 2 carries a bracket 9.

In the more detailed description that follows, the structure will bedescribed under separate headings according to its function. It shouldbe understood, however, that these headings are arranged so as to give alogical sequence to the description of the structure, and do notnecessarily indicate the sequence of operation. That latter sequencewill be given when the description of the structure is complete.

Shrimp Orienting and Feeding Supported on the bracket 7 are rollers l0,11, 12 and 13, over which passes an endless belt conveyor 14 which isdriven by a chain (not shown) reeved about a chain wheel 15 carried bythe shaft of roller 13 (see FIG. 7). As is perhaps best shown in FIG. 8,a V-shaped catching member 16 is disposed above conveyor 14 and hasupright sidewalls and an open forward end and.a rear'end closed by acurved wall. Catching member 16 is mounted on an arm 17 extending from ahorizontal shaft 18 for vertical swinging movement with shaft 18 betweena lowered position in which shrimps entering the forward end of member16 will be caught and held thereby and a raised position in whichshrimps previously held by member 16 will be released for further travelon conveyor 14. Levers 19 and 20 rotate shaft 18 to raise and lowercatching member 16 in timed sequence by appropriate drive means (notshown).

Shrimps released by catching member 16 and carried by conveyor 14 thenstrike a stopping member 22 disposed transversely across conveyor 14. Aslide 21 mounted beside and on the upstream side of stopping member 22with respect to the direction of conveyor travel. Slide 21 has a pusherportion parallel to conveyor 14 and is carried by bar for horizontalsliding movement perpendicular to the direction of conveyor travel topush shrimps detained by stopping member 22 into the shelling stationwhile the conveyor 14 continues to move below.

All the shrimps moving along conveyor 14 are oriented in generally thesame fashion. For this purpose, an orienting device such as shown in thecopending application of the same inventorship herewith, filed undereven date herewith and entitled Apparatus for Feeding Articles to aConveyor in Uniformly Oriented Condition may be used. Shrimps orientedin this way have the curve of their backs forwardmost on conveyor 14,with the tail lowermost as seen in FIG. 8 and the head uppermost as seenin FIG. 8. In this position, the shrimps conform generally to thecurvature of catching member 16, and the head of the shrimp extends outof catching member 16; that is, if a shrimp were shown in FIG. 8, onlythe head would be visible, projecting out of that portion of catchingmember 16 that is uppermost in FIG. 8.

Not all shrimps will be thus desirably disposed in catching member 16.Some may be rotated counterclockwise from the ideal position describedabove. To reorient these rotated shrimps, a pin 14 oscillates aboveconveyor 14, performing a counterclockwise stroke as seen in FIG. 9, inorder to engage the projecting head of the shrimp from the underside ofthe head, and turn any misaligned shrimps clockwise as seen in FIG. 8until they occupy the desired position in catching member 16.Thereafter, when member 16 rises to release the shrimp, the shrimp willhave the proper orientation when it strikes member 22 and is pushedlaterally-by slide 21. To this end, pin 24 rotates on a horizontal shaft25 (FIG. 8) upon actuation of a fork 26 (FIG. 3).

Gripping the Shrimp The shrimp is fed to the shelling station by beingpushed by the pusher portion of slide 21 to the left as seen in FIG. 9,between a fixed lower gripping member 27 and a fixed upper grippingmember 28, where the shrimp initially has the position shown in FIG. 10.Slide 21 retreats to the right as seen in FIG. 9, and a gripper 29 thendescends from the position shown in FIG. 9 to a position at the back ofthe shrimp At the same time, a gripper 30 moves horizontally, to theright as seen in FIG. 9, to coact with gripper 29 to position the shrimplaterally as seen in FIG. 9. Indeed, gripper 30 is mounted on bar 90 formovement with slide 21. Gripper 30 moves toward the shelling stationupon retraction of slide 21. The body of the shrimp between the head andthe tail is thus firmly gripped in the shelling station from above andbelow and from both sides.

Straightening the Tail Once the shrimp is gripped in the shellingstation, the tail is straightened out from the FIG. 10 position to theFIG. 1 1 position, where it is in line with the body portion of theshrimp. To straighten the tail, a horizontal shaft 31 perpendicular tothe length of the body portion rotates clockwise as seen in FIG. 7,

to' swing a pin 32 in a vertical plane against the underside of theshrimp, from the position of pin 32 shown in FIG. to the position of pin32 in a vertical plane against the underside of the shrimp, from theposition of pin 32 shown in FIG. 10 to the position of pin 32 shown inFIG. 11. A chain wheel 33 rotates shaft 31, the shaft 31 being journaledin a support 34 which also carries a bearing bushing 36 in which isjournaled the shaft of a plate-shaped stretcher 37 driven by levers 38and 39. Stretcher 37 rotates in a vertical plane closer to the grippedshrimp than the vertical plane in which pin 32 swings and contacts theshrimp after pin 32 has performed most of the tailstraighteningoperation. Stretcher 37 further straightens the shrimp and holds thetail during a dwell period. See FIG. 12 for the operative position ofstretcher 37.

. Beheading the Shrimp and Ejecting the Meat 7 Gripper 30 includes ablock 40 having a blade 41 for beheading the shrimp. Compare the FIG. 11and FIG. 12 positions of the blade 41. As gripper 39 moves into theshelling station, the blade 41 cuts off the head of the shrimp, whichthen falls away through the spacebetween block 40 and conveyor 14.Notice also that in the FIG, 12 position of block 40, the block 40 has ahorizontal opening therethrough in line with the straightened shrimp. Anejector 42 (FIGS. 4 and 12) moves through this hole in block 40 tocontact the gripped shrimp and only partially to push the meat out ofthe shell during a first stage of ejection (FIG. 12). During a secondstage of ejection, the meat is pushed all the way out of the bodyportion of the shell. Ejector 42 is driven through levers 43-47 uponoscillation of shaft 47 (see FIGS. 2 and 7).

Severing Body Portion and Tail Portion of Shell from Each Other throughthe peritoneum of the shrimp and then retracts upwardly. In this way,the body and tail portions of the shell are sufficiently severed fromeach other that when the ejector 42 pushes the shrimp meat from its FIG.1 1 position to its FIG. 12 position, any remaining connection betweenthe body and tail shell portions will be torn apart and the entireshrimp meat and the tail portion of the shell will move to the FIG. 12position while the body portion of the shell remains in its FIG. 11position. It must be emphasized that it is only the shell which is thussundered, and not the meat.

Kneading the Tail During the tail straightening, the tail-treating partscarried by support 6 have been swinging counterclockwise as seen in FIG.I, to bring this portion of the assembly into the shelling station. Aplate 48 is downwardly yieldably supported on a vertical coilcompression spring assembly 56 and moves under the shrimp's tail (seeFIGS. 4, 7 and 10-12) into close adjacency with the lower gripper 27 forthe body of the shrimp. The straightened and stretched shrimp tail lieson plate 48. A lower guide 50 and an upper guide 51 (FIGS. 7 and 12)prevent the tall from swinging upwardly or downwardly when straightened.The pin 32 and stretcher 37 move between the plate 48 on the one handand the guides 50 and 51 on the other hand.

A roller 52 rotates on a shaft journaled in bushing 53, the shaft at itsother end carrying a gear wheel 54 that meshes with a toothed rack 55.Roller 52 is a segment of a cylinder whose radius is equal to the radiusof the pitch circle of gear wheel '54. A horizontal bar 57 is slidablein a fixed housing 58. Rack 55 is fixedly secured to fixed housing 58,while bushing 53 is carried by bar 57 (see FIG. 5). Bar 57 is engaged bya fork 59 (FIG. 1) that is swung by oscillation of a shaft 60 toreciprocate bar 57 in housing 58, whereupon gear wheel 54 rolls alongand is turned by fixed rack 55 thereby to advance roller 52 to the leftand simultaneously to rotate it counterclockwise as seen in FIG. 7. Thusthe lowermost point of roller 52 does not undergo horizontal translationat the instant that it is lowermost. The purpose of imparting thismovement to roller 52 is to cause it to move over the tail portion ofthe shrimp yieldably supported on plate 48, in order to knead the tailportion of the shrimp to loosen the tail portion of the shell from themeat.

Stripping Off the Tail Shell At the right of FIG. 1, an oscillatablehorizontal shaft 61 will be seen which carries an arm 62thereon.Proceeding to FIG. 7, it will be seen that the arm 62 extends upwardlyto the left and then downwardly and terminates in a plate 63' whoselower edge is recessed about a curve complementary to the cross sectionof the shell of the shrimp. When the plate 63 is thus in its lowermostposition, it will ride the shrimp like a saddle, and will contact theflesh of the shrimp between the separated body and tail portions of theshell of the shrimp, which separation is indicated in FIG. 12.Thereafter, upon clockwise swinging movement of the support 6 as seen inFIG. 1, so that generally speaking the plate 63 moves to the right asseen in F IG. 7, the plate 63 will engage behind the tail portion of theshell and strip the tail portion of the shell from the meat. Oscillationof the shaft 61 can be controlled so that the plate 63 can follow theprofile of the tail meat.

Retention in Shelling Station It is desirable to retain the body portionof the shell in the shelling station throughout the entire operation,and to hold the meat against lengthwise shifting at least during thestripping of the tail portion of the shell from the meat. To this end,the fixed gripping members 27 and 28 are provided with inclined teeththat engage with the body portion of the shell.

Also, a vertically movable pin 81 extends downwardly through uppergripping member 28 and is selectively engageable with the shrimp topierce the shell of the shrimp and ex tend into the meat to pinion themeat against endwise displacement during stripping of the tail portionof the shell (see FIGS. 4, 9 and 12).

Finally, horizontally movable gripper 30 has blunt teeth 84 thereon thatare directed toward the shelling station and en'- gage the underside ofthe body of the shrimp between the legs of the shrimp. In the event thatlegs or bits of the body shell portion cling to gripper 30 between teeth84, fixed pins 85 are provided carried by a support 86 on the machineframe. The pins 85 extend through openings through gripper 30 andbetween teeth 84in the retracted position of gripper 30 .to clean thegripper 30, as seen in FIG. 5.

Product Discharge As seen at the extreme right of FIG. 1 anotherhorizontal oscillatable shaft 64 is provided that carries an arm 65 thatextends upwardly to the left as seen in FIG. 1 and then descends to afree lower end 66 best seen in FIG. 7. Shaft 64 oscillates to raise andlower end 66 so that end 66 moves down to hold down the tail portion ofthe meat after the tail portion of the shell has been strippedtherefrom, and also moves. down to perform a positive ejection of theentire shelled shrimp meat when the meat has been fully pushed from thegripped body portion of the shell by continued movement of ejector 4,2to the right as seen in FIG. 12. End 66 thus serves as a meat productejector for forcing the meat productdown into the discharge chute 93best seen in FIG. 1.

Ejection of Body Shell Mounted for rotation on a horizontal shaft 67 isan arm 69 that carries an ejector 68 for the body portion of the shellwhich is gripped between the fixed gripping members 27 and 28. Shaft 67is driven by bevel gears 70 and chain wheels 71 (FIG. 7). Ejector 68rotates clockwise as seen in FIG. 6, while the gripper 30 is moving tothe left and the slide 21 is also moving to the left to insert a newshrimp. Ejector 68 thus moves ahead of the advancing new shrimp into andthrough the shelling station and out of the shelling station behindgripper 30.

Ejector 68 is in the form of a pin that is inclined at an acute angle tothe direction of conveyor movement such that the ejected body shellportion is moved somewhat to the left as seen in FIG. 8 upon ejection,so that it falls about where the head fell. Of course, gripper 29 is inits raised position when ejector 68 makes its ejection stroke.

Tail Shell Ejection In the event the tail shell portion remains betweenthe members 48, 50 and 51, an ejector for the tail shell portion isprovided, as well as a cleaner for the roller 52. This structure is bestseen in FIGS. 7 and 8. An upright bearing bushing 72 supports a verticalshaft at whose upper end is secured a fork 73 oscillatable by an axiallyreciprocable horizontal shaft 74. At its lower end, this vertical shaftcarries ejector 75 that swings in a horizontal plane between the plate48 and the guide 50, on the one hand, and the guide 51 on the otherhand, clockwise as seen in FIG. 8, thereby to eject the possiblyremaining tail portion of the shell and/or other bits of the shrimp.

The vertical shaft in bushing 72 also carries at its lower end an arm 76that passes above the upper guide 51 and that at its free end carries avertically disposed arcuate segment 76 whose inner concave edge movesacross the arcuate periphery of roller 52 in closely spaced relationshipthereby to strip away any particles of flesh or shell that remain on theworking surface of roller 52. The axial reciprocatory movement of shaft74 and hence the cleaning and ejection functions just described takeplace when the parts carried by support 6 are in their fully retractedposition.

Sequence of Operations As indicated above in the foregoing sections, thefunctions of the different portions of the apparatus were described inthe sequence in which the apparatus was described, with no specialregard for the sequence in which the apparatus operates. That lattersequence is as follows:

A shrimp arriving on the conveyor 14, with the curvature foremost, isstopped by the catching member 16. The pin 24 performs a transversestroke to ensure accurate orientation of the shrimp in catching member16. Member 16 then moves upwardly and the shrimp moves on until it abutsthe stopping member 22 and the slide 21 pushes it in correct orientationinto the shelling station between gripping members 27 and 28. At thispoint, the parts are in the position of FIG. 10.

The bar 90 which carries the slide 21 and the gripper 30 and the block40 and the blade 41 then begins to retract; and as soon as it has movedsufficiently far to the right as seen in FIG. 6, the gripper 29 descendsand engages the back of the shrimp. Then the shaft 31 rotates clockwiseas seen in FIG. 7 until the pin 32 moves from its FIG. position to itsFIG. 11 position, and the parts are otherwise positioned as shown inFIG. 11.

Next the stretcher 37 swings to hold the tail of the shrimp while theblade 41 beheads the shrimp and the gripper 30 with its teeth 84 engagesthe underside of the body of the shrimp. The blades 82 and 83 are thusbrought together sufficiently to sever a portion of the shell of theshrimp. The timing of the movement of the gripper 30 relative to themovement of the pin 32 is of course such that the gripper 30 has notmoved sufficiently close to the shrimp to interfere with straighteningmovement of the tall at the time that the pin 32 first straightens thetail of the shrimp.

At this point, blade 91 descends and cuts through the peritoneum of theshrimp and immediately retracts. The arm 65 moves until its lower end 66is just above the tail portion of the shrimp. The ejector 42 then movesto the left in FIG. 12 until it has pushed the shrimp meat only part waythrough the gripped body portion of the shell, to the FIG. 12 position.The meat carries alongthe tail portion of the shell, so that the tailportion is separated from the body portion of the shell. The ejector 42then is momentarily arrested.

The pin 81 (FIG. 12) then descends and penetrates the shell and into themeat, in order to hold the meat stationary while the tail portion of theshell is stripped away. To strip the tail portion of the shell, thesupport 6 moves to the left as seen in FIG. 7 so that the roller 52rolls over the tail portion of the shell and kneads the meat in theshell thereby loosening the tail portion of the shell from the tailmeat. At this time, the tail is pressed against the yielding plate 48.The bar 57, which was moved fully toward the shelling station, is thenpartially retracted to the right so that roller 52 rolls back over thetail section of the shell but not entirely off the tail section of theshell. Simultaneously, the arm 62 descends until the plate 63 is saddledover the meat between the separated body portion and tail portion of theshell. Upon further retractive movement of the bar 57, the plate 63engages the left end of the tail section of the shell as seen in FIG.12, and upon further rightward movement of plate 63 as seen in FIG. 7,strips the tail section of the shell from the meat.

The pin 81 is then raised and the ejector 42 completes its workingstroke to the right in FIG. 12, forcing the meat completely out of thebody portion of the shell. The meat, free from both shell sections, thendrops into the chute 93. The lowerend 66 of arm 65 descends to make surethat the meat is forced down into the discharge chute, and then risesagain. The arm 63 also rises again to make way for the next shrimp. Therod 74 reciprocates, and the ejector 75 moves between the lower members48, 50 and the upper member 51; while at the same time, the arm 76 movesthe arcuate segment 76 over the working surface of roller 52 to cleanthe same.

Ejector 42 is retracted from the block 40 and gripper 29 ascends. Slide21 now starts the next working stroke with a fresh shrimp and the block40 begins to retract from the shelling station, moving downwardly asseen in FIG. 12. But immediately upon the rising of gripper 29 and thepartial retraction of gripper 30, the ejector 68 rotates clockwise asseen in FIG. 6 to eject the body portion of the shell from between thefixed gripping members 27, 28. Finally, upon the full return of thegripper 30 to the FIG. 5 position, when a further shrimp is introducedby slide 21 into the shelling station, the pins move through openings ingripper 30 to eject any shrimp particles that might be clinging to theteeth 84 or the blade 83.

It will of course be understood that the movable parts of the apparatusof the present invention are operated in timed relationship with eachother by means of transmissions comprising gearing and cams and levers,which have been omitted so as to avoid needlessly complicating thedisclosure. Such transmissions are well known to persons having ordinaryskill in this art, and accordingly need not be disclosed in greaterdetail.

From a consideration of the foregoing disclosure, therefore, it will beevident that all of the initially recited objects of the presentinvention have been achieved.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated inconnection with a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood thatmodifications and variations may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, as those skilled in this art will readilyunderstand. Such modifications and variations are considered to bewithin the purview and scope of the present invention as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

l. A method for shelling curled shrimps, comprising gripping the body ofthe shrimp, straightening the tail of the shrimp into line with thebody, cutting off the head of the shrimp, severing the shell of theshrimp intermediate its length into a body portion and a tail portion ofthe shell, pushing the meat only part way out of the body portion of theshell in the direction of the tail thereby to space said tail portion ofthe shell from said body portion of the shell, stripping the tailportion of the shell from the tail, and then pushing the meat in thedirection of the tail the rest of the way out of the body portion of theshell.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, and kneading the tail portion of theshell prior to said stripping to loosen said tail portion of the shellfrom the tail.

3. Apparatus for shelling shrimps, comprising means for gripping thebody of the shrimp, means for straightening the tail of the shrimp intoline'with the body, means for cutting off the head of the shrimp, meansfor severing the shell of the shrimp intermediate its length into a bodyportion and a tail portion of the shell, and for pushing the meat onlypart way out of the body portion of the shell in the direction of thetail thereby to space said tail portion of the shell from said bodyportion of the shell, means for stripping the tail portion of the shellfrom the tail, and means for then pushing the meat in the direction ofthe tail the rest of the way out of the body portion of the shell.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, and means for kneading

1. A method for shelling curled shrimps, comprising gripping the body ofthe shrimp, straightening the tail of the shrimp into line with thebody, cutting off the head of the shrimp, severing the shell of theshrimp intermediate its length into a body portion and a tail portion ofthe shell, pushing the meat only part way out of the body portion of theshell in the direction of the tail thereby to space said tail portion ofthe shell from said body portion of the shell, stripping the tailportion of the shell from the tail, and then pushing the meat in thedirection of the tail the rest of the way out of the body portion of theshell.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, and kneading the tail portionof the shell prior to said stripping to loosen said tail portion of theshell from the tail.
 3. Apparatus for shelling shrimps, comprising meansfor gripping the body of the shrimp, means for straightening the tail ofthe shrimp into line with the body, means for cutting off the head ofthe shrimp, means for severing the shell of the shrimp intermediate itslength into a body portion and a tail portion of the shell, and forpushing the meat only part way out of the body portion of the shell inthe direction of the tail thereby to space said tail portion of theshell from said body portion of the shell, means for stripping the tailportion of the shell from the tail, and means for then pushing the meatin the direction of the tail the rest of the way out of the body portionof the shell.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, and means for kneadingthe tail portion of the shell prior to said stripping to loosen saidtail portion of the shell from the tail.